As a part time resident of Greece, I am most delighted by the EU bailout. Not only does the mightly Hellenic Republic have almost no cases of Covid now, but we are also going to get shed loads of cash from other EU countries for our politicians to steal. Oops… I meant to invest wisely in rebuilding the economy. Fabbo. As you can see below, Greece is the fourth biggest winner from the great EU Covid lottery and, in terms of per head of population, I think we have (again) topped the handout table. Ouzos all round in Greece. Elsewhere, others are not so happy.
In the days after Brexit, there was a tsunami of comments from folks in Eire, notably from those who still idolise the IRA, suggesting that the UK would lose out big time from not being part of the Evil Empire. For such folks, the most joyful moment of the 20th century was the Irish Free State gaining its freedom from the British Empire. The second most joyful was Ireland surrendering its freedom to become a province of a German-led empire. Now that the Brits were leaving the EU, disaster would soon follow and the good folks of God’s chosen lands in Ulster would be rushing to sign up for a United Ireland, tweeted the Fenians in a frenzied state of deleria.
In days of old, the UK would have gone to the EU summit and, having already trashed its own finances, would have been presented with a massive bill, of at least 100 billion Euros, to pay more for my ouzos in Greece and other important matters. But we Brits are out, and so other folks have to pick up the tab. Though with sub 1% of the EU population, those folks in Eire – having trainwrecked their own economy and Government finances – must now chip in a net 5% of the bill. Ouch! One suspects that the good folks of Ulster might realise they have side-stepped a hospital pass after all.
Anyhow, to all those Fenian fools who sent me such delightful tweets a few years ago, I should say that I’m off to Greece shortly. The ouzo is on ice. Now run along – be good fellows and get your cheque books out.
